Keeping your Mobile Environment Secure

Today, advancements in consumer electronics, like wearables, smartphones, and tablets have the power to give physicians insights like never before. As a result, however, the challenge of securing personal health information (PHI) has become more difficult. This growing number of data points means an increased risk of unauthorized access to patient health information.

Security breaches most often occur due to inconsistent device security, encryption methods, public cloud services, and employee negligence. In 2014, it was estimated nearly 5.6 billion dollars was spent recovering from data breaches. As a result, nearly 90% of providers nationwide were affected. So, we’ve put together some tips for creating a secure mobile environment:

When designing a tool to record notes, organizations should avoid unstructured note taking functions. If possible, work with your solution provider to defined notes that can be universally applied to electronic health records.

5. Seek out an “on-premise” technology.

In the case of highly-confidential data, this allows all your information to reside privately inside the firewall. As a result, mobile apps will only work on devices connected only to the client domain, inside the firewall, or through a trusted VPN connection.

Finally, be sure to work with organizations that have gone through the proper HIPAA certification and understands the nuances of handling PHI.